:) hi all, Lee from Leigh here,had a bmx background as a youngster riding/stunting, building and swapping/trading bits and pieces with friends , i found mountain biking through a friend i made around 89 , i used to borrow a beat up steel monster to go out for rides ,meanwhile i got a job at a bike local bike shop and so bought my first mountain bike on drip ,it was a raleigh "Mirage" purple thing a £265 bag of shite to be frank ,i was 5ft 5 at the time so obviously i needed a 21" frame being a big man of 16 years , it was a tough learning curve on a bike three sizes too big , try running for a bus in clown shoes you get the idea,a couple of years later still at the same bike shop, raleigh dealer , i bought a black silver dynatech mission , great bike i loved it for real and {drum roll} it fit my size, 17.5" ,yes thats the frame i am not a leprechaun, i started getting busy by this time out and about at least 3 times a week the odd race but mostly for fun and risks ,i later ,92 i think, decided to crack the misson frame in the workshop where i worked using a two pieces of wood and a big monkey wrench , heaved on the back dropout until it went daang , lol , ..why ? i here you ask !well the titanium dynatechs had come out and i set my mind on the mt4 frame set ,,,so,i needed money for the old mission frame ,and a brand new replacement from raliegh is easier to sell (i know its naughty but i was on a YTS course doing 40hrs a week earning less than £40 for my labour of love, at 18yrs old you are getting creative or acceptting your slavery ! ).so i sold the brand new mission frame for £200 and put the money down on the mt4.......... ,rode it , raced it , crashed it ,lived for the ride , then one day i had a brain wave aabout stripping it of its paint ,so firstly i stripped it of all its parts, then in a flash i neglected the bike and the sporrt and turned into a party head instead (to this day i dont know how that happened, it just did) so it has remained in that compromised n*ked state ever since , id say about 15 years would be a close estimate

so that brings us to the hear and now, i found this site looking for info about decals for the dynatech mt4 ,ive still not stripped it completely ,but i have just ordered a m970 group so there is no backing out of the rebuild , i am gonna build this sucker to the best speck i can afford as a tribute to all those years of just scraping by as a poor boy . [que: violins]

its nice to be here at retro bike , ive been prowling the forums for some weeks now and i can tell we have a genuine group of good soul's here ,so i look forward to contributing to the community.il post some pics shortly and i have a few questions to ask if thats hunky dory with you's

best wishes to allLee

pswow thats a lotta long waffle for a first post ,well !, you asked how did i get here, there it is !

Hi there, been snooping around for a couple of months getting the bug for a retro again. It all started christmas 92? when i got a GT outpost that i had been bugging my old man for, that progressed to a couple of konas (lava domes i think?). Then after a few year off the bike and a knee injury i treated myself to a GT tempest with a yellow flite kevlar and purple x lite bits, which had 1000s of miles put on it. that was sold to a mate, then passed on to another mate, who im trying to buy it back off! He'll give in one day.

After a another few years out of the saddle a second hand merlin was bought, not sure of age or model? I'll get some pics on here of the frame to see if anyone can correctly identify. i still own that one

Currently riding loads, mostly moderns. with a retro GT timberline on its way to get singlspeeded. been looking for, and keeping my eye out for the right GT or Orange to add to the fleet.

Hi All,
Keen to get back into mtb'in, was heavily into years ago, 12 year break cars, drink and women.
So been looking to buy a new bike for the last six months but nothing i really like??? THESE NEW BIKES HAVE NO SOUL.. i know i love old school, I recently built up from a new nos raw frame and forks a skyway streetbeat with all period nos parts, so have decided i am hunting a suitable retro mtb.
Back in the day i rode a 1989 MBK Tracker Hi-Tec, 1991 Kirk Revolution, 1993 Specialised Rockhopper and finally a 1999 GT LTS 5000 which i have never really used.
Cheers Calvin.

I found this forum while searching for some bits for a '94 Cinder Cone. I have owned the bike from new, although not ridden that much for the last 10 years or so. It’s original apart from the seat, rear tyre and grips and if I can find one, a new rear cassette.

OK, so an introduction from me is very overdue as I’ve been registered on here for quite a while now.

My name is Paul and I stumbled across this site when looking for parts for my ‘92 Raleigh Apex (owned since new). The forum is great, has increased my bike knowledge and has brought back happy memories of enjoying cycling and the early nineties.

I’m still (very slowly) changing items on the Apex which these days is used mostly for commuting and generally getting around. I’m also assembling parts for a first proper project and hope to have something more to show on here in the summer.

Hello all. I've been poking around this site for the past week or so and am blown away by the depth of information and knowledge here.

I came across this site trying to find information on a 94 Gary Fisher Montare (metallic plum color) that I would like to re-build. It was the first bike I bought for myself while working in college. I used it to commute back and forth for work and school.

I've been living here in Los Angeles for the past 9 years and am only recently discovering the abundance of great trails within a 5 mile radius of my home.

Good afternoon. I've just joined after researching a frame I've been given, which turned out to be a Marin Mount Vision Pro from 1999.

I've posted a few pics in the Show your Steel thread, not of the Marin, but the other bikes I have.

I used to race all over the country back in the early 1990s (Norfolk to Hampshire to race and then back again all in one day), in the BMBF etc. but haven't done a lot of miles in the last five years or so.

A promotion at work (and an expanding waistline, combined with an impending "big" birthday!) has meant I've been thinking about getting a newer bike and getting out on the trails again, but when I bought a couple of magazines the prices horrified me. Plus, I didn't recognise most of the brand names. Snooping around this site is like coming back home - names I know and love!

Anyhow, I'm still undecided about whether to fettle my White Spider or buy a new hardtail bike to ride, or buy a new hardtail to dismantle and transfer all the components to the Mount Vision Pro.

Hi, heard about this Forum a while ago but only just remembered to check it out!

Been into biking since about 1995, I started on an Orange P7 with Mag 21's, followed by an Azonic something or other around 2008, then a Spooky Metalhead before finding booze, women and partying at Uni.

I'm back in the game now though, building a Santa Cruz Heckler but I love seeing the retro stuff from my teenage years so I'm off to wander/freewheel down memory lane

Hi to all. New to retrobike, so be gentle. Great to browse through this site. Christ, we had some colour schemes back in the 90's didnt we...

Currently changing tack from dual bouncy, multi £k's worth of completely overbiked dandy-horse biking to none more humble than a cheap, rigid steel Inbred. And I'm loving every minute. I'm rediscovering what dragged me into this mtb mullarkey, back in the early 90's. back then I kicked off with a 23", yes 23" framed Raleigh Dakota. A frame that size would probably require planning permission these days. Onto an old Kona, then a 92 GT Timberline. Ran that for 10yrs before passing it to my brother as a commuter. He's promised it me back, should he pass it on, so might just be on here after some bits...

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